Sean Bean Answers the Web's Most Searched Questions

Hi, I'm Sean Bean,

and I'm doing a Wired autocomplete interview.

[rock guitar]

Have I gotta answer this?

[rock guitar]

Who is Sean Bean married to?

I'm married to Ashley Moore,

or Ashley Bean now, and she's my wife,

and she's a wonderful woman,

and I'm very happy with her.

Who does Sean Bean look like?

I used to look like Iain Glenn,

who's in Game of Thrones,

and we were always competing for parts

when we were younger, when we just left drama school.

Who does Sean Bean support?

Well I've got three children.

But I also support Sheffield United football team

in the U.K., the Blades.

Just chuck it.

[laughter]

Holding it.

What Sean Bean movies does Sean Bean die in.

Oh god, which, that's a hard question.

The first film I made was a film called Stormy Monday.

Well, one of the first, and I didn't die in that.

I nearly died, but I didn't.

The Martian, I didn't die in that.

There's not many that I actually survived in.

That's it, all the rest I died,

which is why I'm second in the dying league,

after Christopher Lee.

I have to see if I can bump it up a bit.

What age is Sean Bean?

My birthday's in about two weeks.

It's me 60th.

What school did Sean Bean go to?

My first school was a school

called Handsworth Junior Schools,

not far from where we used to live.

Then I went to Athelstan School,

which is just a little bit further on til I was 12,

and then I went to a place called Brook School,

til I was 16, and I left at 16.

What has Sean Bean narrates, narrated, I guess that is.

I did a thing called Yorkshire Seasons

in the Yorkshire Wilds,

and that was all about nature and natural history.

I've done quite a few natural history narrations.

I narrated a thing called the Elder Scrolls.

Oh yeah, I did Civilization, yeah.

Because I've been in Boromir,

and been Boromir in Lord of the Rings,

and the Game of Thrones,

you tend to get sent things

that are like old world, mystery,

which I find quite interesting,

so they're quite a pleasure to actually read.

What does Sean Bean think of Game of Thrones?

I think it's brilliant.

I don't think any of us expected

to it have such a phenomenal influence on peoples' lives.

You find politicians quoting lines like winter is coming,

and this, and that.

Trying to use it for their own advantage,

which is rather pathetic, and is quite funny,

comical really.

It was good for all of us,

because it's intelligent, and it's well planned out,

it's well thought, it's imaginative, and surreal,

and shocking, and I'm very proud

to have been involved from the beginning.

For just the beginning.

I'm I alright to chuck it that side?

[Host] Just chuck it.

Ooh, rebel.

Right.

Ah, Ned Stark now.

Why is Ned Stark so honorable?

I think it's because of his lineage, his heritage,

and his family.

His fathers before him, his father, his grandfather.

I think they had a code of honor,

which has gone on for hundreds if not thousands of years.

He was one of the very few men, or women,

in Game of Thrones that really had anything

that you could call honor, or fairness.

He was firm, he was firm with his children,

and with his people,

but he was also very fair and very charitable,

and respectful of those around him,

even the people he commanded, yeah.

Why does Ned Stark yell Baelor?

It's because Arya, and I hope that Baelor would save her,

and look after her, and keep her well, keep her alive.

Why is Ned Stark's sword so big?

That's what she said.

I think it's, he just likes big swords.

I think he said, Oh, I want a really big sword

when I get older dad.

How did Ned Stark know winter was coming?

When we first started Game of Thrones it was autumn,

and it was already starting to get a bit cold

at that time, so, by the time we finished it was winter,

and I knew it was gonna get a bit cold that year.

And then it was a line in the Game of Thrones,

and I thought [beep] me, unbelievable isn't it?

I've just said that.

So really, they copied it off me,

and because I knew winter was coming.

What does Ned Stark whisper before he dies?

It was just something to myself, obviously.

I think it was a song, it might have been.

Gangnam Style, that was it, yeah, it was Gangnam Style.

No, it wasn't.

It was a little prayer that I sometimes do, myself,

and I sometimes say.

Because I wanted it to be something.

I didn't wanna just be like mouthing something,

and we're going on,

[whispering]

because that doesn't mean anything,

and I think it changes things,

so I thought that I would do something

that actually meant something to me.

It was a plea for help in some way,

so that it actually did make sense to me,

and it felt right for me, and it was true.

Why Ned Stark died?

He was a good man, and he was getting in the way of things.

He wasn't corruptible.

He wouldn't join in this little nest of vipers

that he'd become embroiled with.

It's a bit like someone who's tortured,

or they want to keep him alive,

but unless he agrees with them,

and unless he confesses that what he has done

in the past is wrong, then they have to do away with him.

It's a bit like Thomas More in England,

in the medieval times, when they wanted him

to renounce his faith, but he wouldn't.

They tried everything, but he stood fast

by what he believed in, and they killed him.

Why Ned Stark is the best?

He could be the best because he's the only one

with a moral compass,

the only who would you be able to trust,

and to be able to rely on,

and ask for advice and counsel.

I think he probably is the best in that way, yeah.

He's the best man.

Did Ned Stark love Jon Snow?

Yeah, I think he did, yeah.

Yeah, it was a difficult relationship,

because of reasons that have been already explained now,

but he tried to treat him

as he did all his children,

and I think he loved him as one of his children.

Why Ned Stark never told Catelyn?

And I think Catelyn had an inkling

of what had gone on.

She noticed there was a different relationship

between me and Jon.

Maybe it was an unspoken thing,

but I always had a feeling

that she sensed something wasn't quite true.

And you could say that's one of Ned's,

that's his achilles heel,

because he wasn't loyal in that sense,

to his wife, was he, so ...

Did Ned Stark know about white walkers?

I think he knew of them,

and knew there was something there, yeah,

because he was wary of things in that area,

in that direction, in that part of the world.

And maybe because he didn't want to alarm his people

and his family, but I think he knew

there was something not quite right over there.

And they've been there a long, long time, white walkers.

So I don't think, maybe it was something

that was passed onto his family,

and even if he didn't make a fuss about it,

or mention it, I still think he was aware of them.

Does Sean Bean have a tattoo?

I've got two that I can speak of.

One is a Sheffield United tattoo.

It says 100% Blade,

which Blade's the nickname for Sheffield United.

I like that, I'm very proud of that one.

And I've also got a Lord of the Rings tattoo.

It's only about that big.

It's in Elvish, and it means nine,

which is how many there were

in the Fellowship of the Ring,

there were nine of us, so we all had that done.

And I had it done here, actually, in New York.

It was for the premiere of Lord of the Rings,

and I went out with Orlando Bloom,

and Elijah Wood, and I was the last one to have it,

and they kind of said, come on,

you're the last one,

you've gotta go and have it done tonight,

so we went out, and we saw a band,

and then we came home, went to bed,

and the next morning, it was September the 11th.

It was a kind of bittersweet moment,

that night and the following morning, yeah.

But that's why I had that done.

But it's good, we've all got it,

and so it's like a bonding thing, isn't it,

and quite proud of that one too.

Why did Sean Bean change his name?

I thought I may be a bit catchier,

which that's turned out to be,

but I don't know if it's for the right reasons,

because everybody calls me seen Bean now, or Sean bon.

I just guess it was a little bit fanciful.

I just left drama school, I thought catchy name,

and that was it, really, and it's alright.

Are Sean Bean and Viggo Mortensen friends?

Yes, yes I got on very well with Viggo,

and he's an interesting character.

He's quite wacky, and slightly out there,

which makes him very curious and very interesting to me.

What I like about him is that he's an actor,

and we all know that, but he's also a photographer,

a very good photographer, and artist, and a designer.

How many episodes did Sean Bean play

in Game of Thrones?

I think I was in nine, yeah.

I wasn't in the 10th, for obvious reasons.

Thank you internet for Googling me.